Wings of Fire #1: Sahara's Destiny

Chapter 13

It was nighttime now and everything was starting to slow down. Not a whole lot of dragons were flying or walking around. Most were either in the palace or in the prisons. Every dragon in the mountain was asleep, but Sahara was still wide awake. Vulcan had started to get tired around evening, but he was still up watching her. Sahara tapped her tail thoughtfully on the stone floor as she tried to find ways to talk to Pearl.

At first, she thought giving her a special gift that reminded her about her old life would work, but she remembered what Stargazer had said. Dolphin tried, but Pearl refused it. Then, she thought of once Pearl released her from the chains about how she could enchant Pearl to forget this and be only good. But a thought that Pearl would most likely keep the chains on crushed that option. She frowned and sighed. None of her ideas would have worked.

"Still trying to come up with ways to convince Pearl?" Vulcan yawned.

Sahara nodded and he snorted. "Like I said, there's no way." He shook his head and curled up, tucking his head in his wings. "Give it a rest, Sahara. Get some sleep."

Sahara glared at him for a moment, but then realized, maybe sleeping wasn't such a bad idea. She had worried herself all day trying to figure out how she was going to persuade Pearl. She did need a break.

She made herself comfortable beside him and he put his wing over her back. "Goodnight, Sahara." he said.

"Goodnight, Vulcan."

Soon, Sahara began to drift off into a deep sleep.

. . .

For some reason, Sahara dreamed about being on a strange volcanic island, like the one in her vision - like dream. Ash covered the entire area and everything was close to black. The only things that weren't dark were the top of the volcano and some places where lava was fresh. Lava flowed down the volcano and several collapsed structures had large cracks or pieces missing. The beach water was entirely black and bare trees were covered in ash. Sahara started to walk and examine the deserted island, but she started to hear wingbeats and looked behind her. Pearl was flying towards her with a determined look on her face.

She landed beside Sahara but didn't seem interested in her, as if she didn't even know she was there. Sahara watched as Pearl held up her staff, muttered something under her breath, and watched the volcano. Then, the large pearl on top of her staff began to glow, and simultaneously, the volcano rumbled and the ground shook. Suddenly, the volcano blew its hole and something flew out of it.

Sahara saw Pearl move to the side and she tilted her head.

Suddenly, a large figure crashed beside her and Sahara yelped. Pearl made her way to the figure and jumped back. The figure stood up and shook itself. Sahara was surprised to find out it was a dragon, a SkyWing. The SkyWing looked just like Queen Topaz. . . Then Sahara realized it was.

Topaz hugged Pearl and told her something Sahara couldn't hear. Then, they looked at her and hissed.

"Look at you. Stuck here in a SkyWing prison with your SkyWing friend." Topaz chuckled. "And yet, you're trying to persuade Pearl! How cute! But it won't work. She's long gone. There's no saving her." Sahara backed away and somehow slipped off an edge that she originally didn't notice and began to fall. Her dream faded and she soon found herself falling through an abyss.

. . .

Sahara woke up both scared and confused. She didn't understand how Pearl could've found Topaz. Was it by luck? Or did Topaz somehow contact Pearl? Vulcan's wing was still over her back, but he was sitting up and looking out the prison hole.